Tuesday, November 28, 2017
With Freedom Comes Obligations
By: Donovan Baldwin
I believe in freedom, but also that with freedom comes obligation.
For example, I like being free to walk down the street, but, I feel obliged to NOT walk through my neighbor's flower bed, or pick the vegetables they have planted and worked to grow.
I feel that demanding freedom as a natural right, means that I believe that everyone else has the same right.
Granting that, I feel that they too should recognize and honor obligations.
Unfortunately, because of so many factors in us humans; differences in upbringing, culture, religion, other beliefs, etc., we don't always recognize the same freedoms, and, even when we do, not always the same obligations.
This is easier in a relatively small tribe.
Boss made the rules and enforced them with fear. Maybe a shaman, or elder, acted as spiritual head, reinforcing rules, teaching common values. All members of that small tribe believed and acted the same, Or faced the same consequences. But, even then, there could be a "glitch in the Matrix".
Someone would steal, kill, rape, molest; and, the tribe, usually through chief, or shaman, or council took action, often swift, violent, and lethal.
Diversity is wonderful, but, as freedom creates obligations, diversity creates other considerations, too.
So, we have laws and agree to abide by them. Abiding by proper laws gives us freedom, to a degree. Life's never perfect, and freedom is never entirely free.
For example, I like being free to walk down the street, but, I feel obliged to NOT walk through my neighbor's flower bed, or pick the vegetables they have planted and worked to grow.
I feel that demanding freedom as a natural right, means that I believe that everyone else has the same right.
Granting that, I feel that they too should recognize and honor obligations.
Unfortunately, because of so many factors in us humans; differences in upbringing, culture, religion, other beliefs, etc., we don't always recognize the same freedoms, and, even when we do, not always the same obligations.
This is easier in a relatively small tribe.
Boss made the rules and enforced them with fear. Maybe a shaman, or elder, acted as spiritual head, reinforcing rules, teaching common values. All members of that small tribe believed and acted the same, Or faced the same consequences. But, even then, there could be a "glitch in the Matrix".
Someone would steal, kill, rape, molest; and, the tribe, usually through chief, or shaman, or council took action, often swift, violent, and lethal.
Diversity is wonderful, but, as freedom creates obligations, diversity creates other considerations, too.
So, we have laws and agree to abide by them. Abiding by proper laws gives us freedom, to a degree. Life's never perfect, and freedom is never entirely free.
Labels: donovan baldwin, freedom, liberty, obligations
# posted by Donovan Baldwin @ 10:28 AM 
